Eydthe Eyde ; A Lesbian Pioneer
Back in 1947 Eydthe was hired at a Los Angeles printing firm as a secretary. She was an exceptionally fast typist and got through her assigned workload so quick that her boss gave her permission to write whatever she wanted, as long as she looked busy. So what did she do with her creative liberty? Why, she created the first ever magazine for lesbians.
The title of this revolutionary article is VICE VERSA, and to Edythe Eyde it was born from "a labor of love". They were a monthly occurrence, and within a few of the pages she explains that the reason for such is because she must source enough material to really make it a worthwhile read. Initially she distributed these pages through mail, but soon found out it was illegal to circulate information about lesbians via the postal service. However, Eydthe didn’t let that stop her.
Instead she began spreading the copies out by hand with the simple instruction; “When you're through with it, please pass on to another lesbian.”
Only nine issues were printed, with 12 copies of each, before demand from the tribadic followers became too great to meet (and the publishing firm closed down).
Despite how prints were limited, it’s spectated that lesbians shared their copies throughout the queer community with such vigour that hundreds were able to read VICE VERSA.
And now, through much scouring across the internet, I have miraculously discovered the digitalised versions of every page she wrote, and I feel both privileged and obligated to spread these truly remarkable tributes of lesbian literary paramountcy with anyone who shares the same keen fascination.
Stay Proud.
Stay Curious.
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